14 



KEARTONS' NATURE PICTURES 



HKDGE SPARROWS NEST. 



The eggs, numbering from four to 

 six, are of a beautiful turquoise blue 

 colour. Before commencing to sit, indi- 

 vidual members of this species some- 

 times resort to the curious practice of 

 covering their eggs with moss and hair, 

 before the work of incubation has com- 

 menced, as if conscious of the fact 



that their striking colour might attract 

 attention. 



The cuckoo frequently victimises this 

 bird, and it is quite pathetic to see a 

 pair of poor little Hedge Sparrows vainly 

 trying to satisfy the enormous appetite 

 of . the monster foster chick in their 

 nest. 



Although a timid creature, easily 

 scared away to cover, the Hedge Accen- 

 tor does not appear readily to profit 

 by experience. In the winter I have 

 trapped specimens, marked, and released 

 them, but only to find, within an hour 

 or two of their release, that they were 

 again dallying round the food that had 

 lured them into captivity. The same 

 kind of indiscretion characterises the 

 doings of the robin and blue tit, but not 

 the Common Sparrow. I have never in 

 my life deceived a member of the last- 

 named species twice by the same trick. 



